Merchandise display rack



June 12, 1934. H. A, HAUPTU MERCHANDISE DISPLAY RACK Filed Nov. 23. 1931 Patented June 12, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MERCHANDISE DISPLAY RACK tion of New York Application November 23, 1931, Serial No. 576,690

3 Claims.

This invention relates generally to display devices, and more particularly to display racks adapted to accommodate a stock of merchandise and exhibit a sample of such merchandise.

In the display of the classes of goods which come in rolls or bolts, such as cloth or wall paper, difiiculty is encountered in satisfactorily setting out attractive samples due to the necessity for exhibiting a large portion of the goods in order 19 to give the customer a suitable perspective of the material or pattern exhibited, and it is necessary to keep a selection of rolls or bolts in some place convenient to the customer, and this usually results in an unsightly collection of cumbersome appearing rolls on the sales counter or floor.

It is an object of my invention to provide a stock and display rack particularly adapted to retain quantities of roll goods and display several samples of such goods side by side and/or in superimposed relation for purposes of comparison.

Another object is the provision of a display rack which effects economies in floor space and at the same time provides means for the display of extensive samples of the merchandise housed by the rack.

A further object is a display rack having expansive and easily viewed display panels which are readily removable for purposes of changing display.

Still another object is a combination stock and display rack which may be converted to other purposes by the removal of its display means.

A further object is a combination display and supply rack which is sturdy, inexpensive and simple to construct, economical of floor space, and attractive in appearance.

Other objects and advantages residing in my invention will appear from the following description and accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my improved rack utilized to display and store wall paper;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged end view of the rack illustrating the manner in which the wall paper or similar goods is arranged for purposes of disp y;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail of the rack structure and shelf support.

Fig. 4 is a detail in perspective of the combina- 50 tion cross members and shelf support taken along the line 44 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary View in plan of the rack structure and display panel engaging means also taken along the lines 55 of Fig. 2.

In the accomplishment of these objects I provide the display rack of the type shown in perspective in Fig. 1, comprising an arrangement of frame supports and cross members affording a rack open at both of its ends and having its sides formed to slope at some suitable angle from the bottom of the rack toward the top and enclosed by panels of any suitable material, these panels being removable and adapted generally to exhibit samples of the merchandise accommodated by the rack in the several compartments and shelves supplied therein for storage purposes.

My improved rack is especially suitable for the display of materials such as wall paper, and in Figs. 1 and 2 I illustrate the manner in which a numb-er of samples of such material may be conveniently and effectively displayed. The top portion of this rack is open and provided with a shelf situated at a distance below the top edges of the rack to form a cooperating part of the display means, whereby a roll of the material to 5 be displayed is unwound to permit a portion of such material to drape over one edge of the top of the rack and a corresponding side, and the end partially folded back upon itself, the remainder of the roll resting on the top shelf and 89 other rolls being partially unwound in a similar manner and having their unwound portions laid over the top and side of the rack upon the sample previously positioned, and having their ends similarly looped back above the loops previously laid down in such a manner as to form a sort of cascade of materials looped back one above the other.

The particular structure of my improved rack shown in Fig. 2 discloses its open end portion and principal frame structure, which comprises a pair of substantially upright standards 8 having their uppermost extremities tilted toward one another, and being interconnected by cross supports 10 which are formed from angle irons of V-section having at their two extremities, flanges 12 formed by cutting away a portion of one side of the iron at either extremity and bending down the extended portion of the other side, as shown in detail in Fig. 3. The standards 8 are preferably formed from metal tubing and engage the cross supports 10 by means of bolts or rivets 14 passing through holes therein and extending through a corresponding hole 15 in the flange 12, as shown in Fig. 3. These cross members, which I prefer to call transverse supports, vary in length from the lowermost portion of the rack toward the top, and for each pair of these transverse supports or cross members, one of each pair being situated in corresponding positions at either end of the rack,

there is a corresponding pair of longitudinal supports 16 (Fig. 4) also formed from angle bars, which are affixed at their extremities by bolting or other suitable means to the corresponding extremities of the transverse supports 10. Shelving members are provided in the form of inserts of composition or wall board 17 or other suitable material sized to rest along their edges upon the lower innermost faces 18 of the cross members or supports 10 and 16.

The sides of the rack are closed by panel members 19 embraced along their respective vertical sides and bottoms by channel members 20 which are affixed to the upright standards 8 preferably by welding, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The up permost edge of the panel frame is defined by a pair of horizontally extended cylindrical members or tubes 22 and 23, supported at their extremities on either side of the uppermost ends '7 of the standards 8 by bolts or rivets 9 so as to form an upper longitudinal edge 24 for the top edges of the rack through which the display panels 19 may be inserted in the frame channels 20. The horizontally extended tube members 22 and 23, in addition to providing structural reinforcement to the rack, offer a smooth running surface for the paper or other material 26 which is laid over the edge 24 of the top of the rack for display purposes.

In the application of my improved rack to the storage and display of merchandise such as wall paper, for example, rolls of the materials 28 are variously distributed over the shelves of the rack, as shown in Fig. 1, and certain of the rolls 29, 30 and 31 which it is desired to exhibit as samples, are especially placed on the uppermost shelf 11 and, as particularly shown in Fig. 2, roll 31 is partly unwound and the unwound portion passed over the top of the rack and down the side to the bottom of the display panel and then partially looped back upon itself and its endmost edge 33 secured to the under portion of the loop by any suitable means. Roll 30 is similarly unwound and passed over the top edge inside of the rack to provide another display sample 30 having its endmost edge looped back upon the remainder of the unrolled portion and secured to the undermost part of the loop as at 34; a third roll 29 may likewise have an unrolled portion passed over the top of the rack and the other two samples to be looped back upon itself to form the display 29.

In my improved display rack the material used for sample or display purposes is in no way injured, and in the case of the wall paper which I have chosen to illustrate the operation of my invention, there would be no injury to the rolls used as exhibits and they could readily be rewound and used as stock merchandise.

If it is desired to change the manner of display, by cutting and affixing a portion of paper to the panel, the panel 19 may be removed and samples affixed thereto, or the samples may be placed upon the panel while it is in the frame and at some later time easily removed by passing the panel between the pipe members 22 and 23.

In general, my improved rack provides means for displaying simultaneously a number of samples of wall paper or similar material, in a manner to permit viewing the sample material substantially as it would appear in actual use, while at the same time a stock of the merchandise is conveniently and neatly stored in close proximity to the samples. Moreover, afurther advantage provided by my rack lies in the fact that a large number of observers may view the samples at the same time.

The particular structure of the device which I have described in detail may be modified without departing from the scope of the invention, and I do not wish to be limited to the specific details recited herein in the description of the embodiment which I have chosen to illustrate my invention, except to the extent set forth in the following claims, which I wish to secure by Let ters Patent of the United States.

1. A display rack having two inwardly sloping sides, an open top and open ends and having a frame member comprising tubular end standards 1 connected by horizontally extensive cross members, said open top being bounded on two sides by horizontally extensive tubular members.

2. A display and stock rack comprising two pairs of tubular supports arranged in spaced relation and connected by horizontally extensive angle bars of V-section each support of a said pair being tilted toward the other and a pair of horizontally extensive tubular members being extended in parallel between the upper extremities of corresponding members of said pairs of tubular supports, each pair of said horizontally extensive tubular members being spaced apart near their extremities by the tubular supports to which they are affixed.

3. A display rack having convergently tilted tubular end members, horizontally extensive cross members, an open top and sloping side panels, said cross members being angle bars of V-section, and a number of said members having one longitudinal side extended beyond an adjacent side and their extended portions upset at an angle corresponding to the tilt of said end members, and having apertures therethrough and being affixed to said tubular end members by bolts extending therethrough and through said apertures.

HERBERT A. HAUPTLI. 

